From the 19th to early 20th-century Celery was not just a popular vegetable in America, it was a national obsession. Other than coffee and tea, celery appeared on more menus than any other foodstuff — raw, fried, mashed, fed to ducklings, jellied. Wealthy families displayed celery in cut crystal vases as a lavish table setting. On one early 20th century menu dug up by the New York Public Library, a dish of caviar is priced at 25 cents; celery is 30 cents. Times have changed. Celery is a neglected vegetable. Not by BSK. Celery is included in BSK’s mirepoix that enhances many dishes. It is also an ingredient in chopped salad a la BSK with scallions, onions, radishes, baby turnips, fennel, parsley and cherry tomatoes. (HG, lover of Asian food, likes it mixed with cold Vietnamese rice noodles and gilded with lemon juice, fish sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce and chili oil). Don’t see celery on many restaurant menus these days (Sometimes used as a modest garnish). A great cooked celery dish was the braised celery served in years past at The Oak Room in New York’s Plaza Hotel. If memory serves, it was topped with a bit of beef marrow. Lush. For many years, diners at New York restaurants were served with a dish of celery and green olives on ice. These were nibbles to accompany the pre-dinner cocktail. That custom has vanished. Pete Meehan, in his book, “Lucky Peach: 101Easy Asian Recipes,” has two celery recipes HG/BSK will try. One is for “Spicy Cold Celery.” Thin sliced celery (cut on an angle) is smothered in a dressing of sesame oil, chili oil, rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and a few crushed Szechuan peppercorns. Sounds like a good warm weather appetizer. The other recipe is for “Szechuan Chopped Celery With Beef”. This calls for chopped celery and chopped beef to be stir-fried with Korean chili-bean paste and other ingredients and served over rice or Asian noodles. HG intends to cook this and will add Sambal Oelek to the HG portion. Some (include HG) like it hot.
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